On greens that, by late evening, were being compared to trampolines - so firm had they become - some players were evidently content that their scores had been posted long before sunshine more typical of a Mediterranean day had transformed them into surfaces reminiscent of those found on a links course.
Yet, the suspicion is that Angel Cabrera, probably the happiest man of all, could have putted on glass or even crusty sandpaper if so required. In compiling a course-record equalling 63 in yesterday's opening round of the Volvo PGA championship here on the West course, to take a two-stroke lead over Welshman Phillip Price, Cabrera needed just 21 putts.
Coming from the longest driver on the European Tour, and some would say in world golf, it was testimony to that old adage of driving for show and putting for dough.
But no one is handing the title to the Argentinian just yet, not without a fight at any rate. Paul McGinley, building on his recent good form which has seen him emerge as a realistic candidate for the Ryder Cup team, argued: "The standard is so high these days that you just don't blow anybody away. Nobody's throwing in the towel."
Although he started his round in the chill of the morning, the Dubliner - playing with the assistance of painkillers because of an intercostal muscle strain - included some "fireworks" at the start of his homeward run to finish with a six-under-par 66. Another injured Irishman, Padraig Harrington, who had seriously considered withdrawing from the tournament earlier in the week after injuring a neck muscle doing gym work, had a flawless round of 67.
Indeed, the day finished with three Irish players inside the top-11. The surprise, however, was that the third was not Darren Clarke - who had a thoroughly miserable time on the greens, taking 32 putts in total and actually three-putting from little more than four feet on the 10th on his way to an opening 72 - but, rather, Damien McGrane.
Playing in the tournament because of his Irish Region ranking, McGrane shot a well-constructed round of 68 that was the envy of some more seasoned Wentworth campaigners.
Lee Westwood professed to playing a "mixture of rubbish and really rubbish" in a round of 73, which was a common score for some of the championship's likely lads. Colin Montgomerie also finished on the one-over-par mark, although this was mainly attributable to an eight on the 17th where he drove out-of-bounds, while Vijay Singh was forced to birdie the last in the match behind the man seeking a four-timer of PGA titles to join Monty on that score.
One of the reasons that McGinley believes has enabled him to shoot lower opening rounds than he used to do is a less aggressive approach over the opening holes.
"I'm feeling my way into a round these days. I'm trying not make mistakes, making sure that I'm not put on the back foot," he explained.
Having turned in 32 strokes, and standing three-under-par on the 11th tee, McGinley wasn't quite prepared for what lay ahead. On that hole, he holed out with his approach shot - an eight-iron from 136 yards - for an eagle two and then followed up with back-to-back birdies. If there was a disappointment to his round, it is that he did not further build on that score. Instead, after the fireworks, came something of a dampening experience as he bogeyed the 15th and then failed to birdie either of the two finishing par fives that threw up their customary bevy of eagles and birdies for most of the field.
But the leaders would do well to remember that strange things tend to happen on this course. Three years ago, for instance, Montgomerie needed to finish two-under from the 16th to make the cut. He went birdie-birdie-eagle and went on to win the tournament. There's a long way to go yet.
